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#savecara

March 30, 2015

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By: Hanne Knuyt

Editorial Ass.

B2B Marketing

Belgians love their beer. We claim to have the best beer in the world. Belgium produces over 1000 different kinds of beer in more than 150 breweries. We also firmly believe that the right way to enjoy these beers is in one of a thousand different glasses, because every different beer deserves its own glass to intensify the flavour (I told you we love our beer).

Cara Pils may not be a well known international brand of beer, but it recently hit the headlines after receiving a very negative response to its name change from its customers. When it announced it was going to change its name to ‘Everyday Pils’, it wasn’t expecting the backlash it received.

But people did complain. They created online petitions and Facebook pages against the change, gaining thousands of likes in minutes. The hashtag #savecara was trending on Twitter and it seemed like everybody was talking about it.

This activity resulted in the brand going back on its decision. The name would stay the same and only the packaging would change. However, this time Cara Pils had clearly learnt its lesson about not listening to its customers. It announced this time the customer could pick their favourite packaging option. Three designs were presented, and unsurprisingly given the reaction to the name change, the old packaging won with eleven thousand votes.

By asking its customers to choose which packaging design they liked, Cara Pils realised it needed to listen to its customers and keep them front-of-mind when making decisions about the brand. It should have thought like this before trying to rename the brand.

It goes to show how much emotional attachment people place on brands and also highlights how important it is to think of your customer when planning all marketing activity. Ignore them at your peril.